On September 21, the Management Undergraduate Society (MUS) hosted a debate for students running for positions on the Board of Directors. Held in the Bronfman Building, the debate included those running for positions as class representatives to the MUS, with first-year candidates running to represent U0 and U1 students, and U3 candidates running to fill a vacant position.
The debate moderators, Matthew McLaughlin and Noemi Holczer, allowed each candidate to deliver an opening statement, after which they were asked questions by both the moderators and the audience. Below is a summary of the platform each candidate presented at the debate.
U0 Representative Candidates
Sarah Wang described three main platform priorities in her campaign to represent U0 students: visibility, accessibility and inclusivity. She hopes to make it possible for Desautels students to purchase Faculty of Management apparel in order to improve visibility on campus and foster “management pride.” She lamented that as a U0 management student only taking a few courses in the faculty, one can “sometimes feel like an arts student,” and wants to address this by actively engaging U0 students in management events. Wang also presented plans to help first-year students learn their way around, proposing putting up a map in front of Bronfman.
Derah Onuorah expressed his belief that “leadership is about serving others,” and outlined several ways in which he hopes to serve the U0 management community as their elected representative. Onuorah spoke about engaging with the First-Year Involvement team (FIT) to create events for U0 students and give them more exposure to the faculty. If elected, he also plans to set up events specifically taking place within the Bronfman building to allow first-year management students to learn their way around the building.
U1 Representative Candidates
Rohan Roychoudhury is in his first year, and his platform includes improving access to mental health services on campus. Roychoudhury also wants to internalize a process for exchanging resources between students in the Faculty of Management in the interest of creating a cheaper and easier way for students to sell textbooks and course materials to one another. When asked how he would implement these measures, Roychoudhury spoke about forming student committees to work with the MUS on such projects, stating that his initiatives “can be very easily led by students who feel passionately [about them]”.
Frédèric Lam is in favour of ideas that are “simple, but will have a big impact on student life.” Some of these projects include getting a coffee machine in Bronfman, as well as moving a microwave to the second floor. He also discussed plans to implement charging stations in Bronfman, as well as movie nights for management students. When asked how he would try to improve accountability within the MUS, Lam expressed that he is not in favour of penalties or sanctions for leaders, but rather that elected members need to be reminded that people are counting on them. “Motivation would be a good way to improve accountability,” he said.
U3 Representative Candidates
Vivian Eberle stressed that as a U3 student she would like to use her own experience to help improve the core courses for management students in future years. Eberle discussed the importance of transparency in the financial workings of the MUS, specifically by updating the MUS website to include current meeting minutes and financial statements to “make sure that people know what their fees are being used for.” Eberle also wants to plan a retreat for graduating students at the end of the school year to celebrate the end of their studies.
Laurent Lefebvre’s platform includes increasing transparency within the MUS by taking and regularly sharing meeting minutes for Board of Directors meetings, as well as MUS General Assemblies. Lefebvre is also focused on increasing awareness of available MUS positions to all students. If elected, he plans on ensuring that U0 and U1 management students are aware of all ways in which they can be involved in the MUS, including currently filled positions that they can aspire to take on in the future. Lefebvre also wants to prioritize the improvement of mental and physical health services at McGill.
The campaign period ends at midnight on September 23, and voting will take place from Monday, September 24, to Wednesday, September 26. You can vote at https://ssmu.simplyvoting.com/
